Krakow, Poland – 2 June 2020 – Ryvu Therapeutics (WSE: RVU), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule therapies that address emerging targets in oncology, has obtained the occupancy permits for its newly built R&D Center for Innovative Drugs, meaning it has completed the construction of the facility. Construction of own R&D Centre constitutes an element of execution of the strategic plans focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies announced in 2017.
By the end of June 2020, Ryvu plans to move to the new headquarters, located at 2 Sternbach Street, in Krakow, in a Special Economic Zone which provides various tax incentives for the local companies. The R&D Center for Innovative Drugs is situated in close proximity to the Jagiellonian University as well as Solaris Synchrotron Facility. The newly built Sternbach St. was named after Dr. Leo Sternbach, a graduate of Jagiellonian University who went on to discover Vallium, the most prescribed drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. The initiative to honor Dr. Sternbach, was spearheaded by Ryvu and received strong support from Krakow scientific and technology community.
At the heart of the new Ryvu facility is an array of laboratories incl. medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, cell & molecular biology and analytical chemistry. Its launch will allow Ryvu to expand the pipeline and accelerate research process of innovative drugs. The laboratory-office complex is made up of 6 floors with a total area of ca. 108,000 sq. ft., including over 86,000 sq. ft. usable area, which will accommodate:
- 32,300 sq. ft. of laboratories
- 10,700 sq. ft. of office space
- 14,000 sq. ft. of social and technical space
- 29,000 sq. ft. of remaining space such as parking lot and corridors, etc.
The new building will accommodate up to approximately 300 employees. The total value of the investment including the purchase of land, construction of the building and key laboratory equipment amounts to over $20 M out of which the government grant amounts to $8.5 M. The new facility has also enabled the further growth of Selvita, the CRO division of Ryvu that was spun-out in 2019 and will take over the facilities at JCI which the combined company has rented since 2009. The successful spin-out has created $170 M value for Ryvu shareholders.
“Access to the state of the art laboratory space is one of the key development factors for any reputable biotechnology company. In the Polish market reality, the only way to guarantee ourselves such access, and consolidate Ryvu team scattered in different locations, was to construct such facility on our own. We are very pleased that one of the most modern buildings of this type in our country, was built in Krakow – the city, that we believe is a perfect place to become a world-class center for innovative research and development in the field of pharmacy and biotechnology. Human resources, growing research infrastructure, favorable scientific environment and history of drug research in Krakow, are the great potential of the city where we work” – comments Pawel Przewięźlikowski, co-founder and CEO of Ryvu Therapeutic S.A. “We are very happy with the collaboration with our general contractor Mota-Engil Central Europe. We broke the ground on the new facility in August 2018 and are moving in June 2020 almost on the original schedule” – added Przewiezlikowski.
The investment in construction and equipping of the Centre has been co-financed by the Government of Poland and the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund and is in line with the Strategy for Responsible Development adopted in February 2017 by the Polish government, which supports development projects in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical industries in Poland.
In line with the current Covid-19 pandemic restrictions the official public opening ceremony of the new building is planned for the Fall of 2020.
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